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On Wednesday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany compared Donald Trump's photo-op with a Bible to the actions of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II.

McEnany specifically compared Trump's three-minute appearance outside a church, after protesters were tear-gassed to clear the site for him, to Churchill inspecting sites of bomb damage during the London Blitz that killed tens of thousands of civilians.

<p>She also compared Trump's brief performance with previous presidential actions, like George W. Bush <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjGcCI9ByWw" target="_blank">throwing out</a> the first pitch after 9/11.</p><p>McEnany praised the purported symbolism of Trump's photo-op, but just two days earlier, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-pushes-back-on-calls-for-trump-to-address-nation-amid-riots-protests" target="_blank">she said</a> Trump did not need to take the symbolic action of making an Oval Office address to discuss the protests.</p><p>"A national Oval Office address is not going to stop Antifa," said McEnany. "What's going to stop is action. And this president is committed to acting on this."</p><p>From the June 3 White House press briefing:</p><blockquote>REPORTER: Kayleigh, why did the president feel it was important to go walk over there through the park and to the church?<br/>KAYLEIGH MCENANY: It was extremely important. Look, the president wanted to send a very powerful message: That we will not be overcome by looting, by rioting, by burning. This is not what defines America. And going and standing by St. John's church was a very important moment.<br/>And I would note that throughout all of time, we've seen presidents and leaders across the world who've had leadership moments and very powerful symbols that were important for a nation to see at any given time to show a message of resilience and determination like Churchill, we saw him inspecting the bombing damage.<br/>It sent a powerful message of leadership to the British people. And George W. Bush throwing out the ceremonial first pitch after 9/11, and Jimmy Carter, putting on a sweater to encourage energy savings, and George H.W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act flanked by two disabled Americans.<br/>And for this president, it was powerful and important to send a message that the rioters, the looters, the anarchists, they will not prevail. That burning churches are not what America's about, and that moment, holding the Bible up, is something that has been widely hailed by Franklin Graham and others, and it was a very important symbol for the American people to see that we will get through this through unity and through faith.</blockquote><p class="media-headline"><strong><br/></strong></p><iframe class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7c5a4a6e0c09d9b04cec9cab8e3ac501" frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/425614736" width="100%"></iframe><p><em>Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.</em></p>

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway insisted Tuesday that Donald Trump's photo-op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square the day before was not actually a photo-op.

On Monday, military police fired tear gas into a crowd of peaceful protesters, including clergy members, to clear a path for Trump to walk from the White House to the nearby church.

<p>
Trump spent approximately three minutes in front of the church, <a href="https://youtu.be/5ShnqmiKLE8" target="_blank">posing</a> for pictures with a Bible. <a href="https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1267602006279024640" target="_blank">Asked</a> by a reporter whether it was his Bible, Trump responded that it was "a Bible." Trump did not go inside the church, nor did he meet with any members of the church.
</p><p>
Video of the photo-op was later used for a <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1267676026391404544" target="_blank">propaganda video</a> sent out by the official White House Twitter account.
</p><p>
"WE WERE DRIVEN OFF OF THE PATIO AT ST. JOHN'S - a place of peace and respite and medical care throughout the day - SO THAT MAN COULD HAVE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH!!!" Gini Gerbasi, rector for St. John's Episcopal Church in Georgetown, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gini.gerbasi/posts/10157575422089624" target="_blank">wrote</a> on Facebook later that evening.
</p><p>
Trump's actions were <a href="https://americanindependent.com/donald-trump-tear-gas-protesters-clergy-st-johns-episcopal-church-police-violence/" target="_blank">also criticized</a> by other members of the clergy in Washington.
</p><p>
From a June 2 media availability at the White House:
</p><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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KELLYANNE CONWAY: I think the words photo-op itself call into que— you're looking in somebody's heart and wondering, second-guessing why they would go over there.<br/>
Is it a photo-op because a photo was taken? While the president of the United States was in front of a church where he went on Inauguration Day? Where every president has gone for more than two centuries?<br/>
I think that itself is a mischaracterization. I know it ended up being a Sesame Street Grover word of the day, but that doesn't make it right and it doesn't make it true.<br/><br/></blockquote><p class="media-headline">
<strong>Kellyanne Conway photo op 06-02-2020 from Shareblue Media on Vimeo</strong></p>
<iframe class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8a7c742a6aa85a481024cf2652ad7b32" frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/425242544" width="100%"></iframe>
<p>
<em>Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.</em>
</p>

A report released Wednesday revealed that a COVID-19 test from Abbott Laboratories that Donald Trump has frequently touted has a high failure rate.

The Bloomberg report, which cites a new study out of New York University, states that the research, "which has yet to be confirmed, found that Abbott's ID NOW missed at least one-third of positive cases detected with a rival test and much as 48% when using the currently recommended dry nasal swabs."

<p>The Abbott test received emergency use authorization from the FDA <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/abbott-labs-receives-fda-approval-for-rapid-covid-19-test-2020-03-27" target="_blank">on March 27</a>, and in a March 30 press conference at the White House, Trump took the machine out of its box and <a href="https://twitter.com/amerindependent/status/1244738411224850443?lang=en" target="_blank">displayed it for reporters</a> while discussing its availability and the role it would play in advancing America's testing capability.</p><p>Trump has repeatedly promoted and praised the test since then.</p><h3>March 30: 'Highly accurate'</h3><p>During a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing/" target="_blank">press briefing</a> with the White House coronavirus task force on March 30, Trump stated, "We have something from Abbott Labs, which is right here, and that's a five-minute test, highly accurate."</p><p>Later in the briefing, Trump called the test "incredible" and described it as "not nearly as disturbing to do as the other tests."</p><h3>April 10: 'Very quick' and 'very easy'</h3><p>In a task force briefing on <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-24/" target="_blank">April 10</a>, Trump called the test "very fast."</p><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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</script><p>"We have the Abbott test, which is very quick and very easy. It goes very fast," he said.</p><p>He added that they also had a "lesser test that we talked about where we can talk about a larger area," but did not specify to what he was referring.</p><h3>April 17: 'New and innovative"</h3><p>During another task force press briefing on <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-april-17-2020/" target="_blank">April 17</a>, Trump said his administration had been "promoting the development of new and innovative tests," specifically mentioning the "15-minute Abbott test."</p><p>"As of yesterday, we have distributed nearly 660,000 Abbott IDs. Now, that's a — an incredible test," he said, later in the briefing. "...It's fantastic. It's a hot — it's the hot one."</p><p>He also thanked Abbott Laboratories for being "incredible."</p><h3>April 18: 'A lot of people' like it</h3><p>"A lot of people like the Abbott test that we came up with," Trump said during another briefing on <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-2/" target="_blank">April 18</a>. "Abbott is a brand-new technology, brand-new test. It's great. It's five minutes, boom, you put it in."</p><p>He noted, "And we're making thousands of machines. Abbott is making thousands and thousands of machines."</p><p>Trump also said he'd been tested using both a nasal swap test and "the new test that just came out, the Abbott, where they just touch your nose, basically. And they put it in a machine, and literally, a few minutes later, they tell you if you're fine."</p><p>"I was lucky in both cases, because I've seen the damage that this does to people," he added. "But we have great tests."</p><h3>April 20: I 'love the Abbott test'</h3><p>In a task force press briefing on <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-29/" target="_blank">April 20</a>, Trump claimed, "A lot of people love the Abbott test. So do I."</p><p>"You know, the Abbott test is great because it's, boom, it's — they touch, they put it in, and in five minutes you have — the problem is that doesn't do massive numbers like the big machine," he said.</p><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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</script><h3>April 30: 'The rage'</h3><p>"[The Abbott test is] a brand-new test," Trump said on <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-meeting-governor-murphy-new-jersey/" target="_blank">April 30</a>. "That didn't exist eight weeks ago, and now it's like the rage."</p><p>He added, "Everybody wants that test."</p><p>Later in the briefing, Trump once again called the test "so great," claiming the prior administration had left them with "empty cupboards."</p><p>"We started off with bad, broken tests and obsolete tests," he claimed, declining to elaborate on the remark or specify to what he was referring.</p><p>Medical experts <a href="https://americanindependent.com/donald-trump-coronavirus-testing-reopen-country-economy-may-anthony-fauci-covid-19/" target="_blank">have said</a> a robust medical testing system — with as many as <a href="https://americanindependent.com/donald-trump-coronavirus-5-million-tests-daily-white-house-covid-19/" target="_blank">5 million tests</a> or more being conducted each day — needs to be in place before the country can reopen safely for business.</p><p>Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the coronavirus task force, has repeatedly warned that a premature return without such a scheme could lead to <a href="https://twitter.com/AmerIndependent/status/1260224757464776706" target="_blank">renewed outbreaks</a> and more deaths.</p><p>Additionally, testing systems would have to have a much lower failure rate than what has been reported for the Abbott system to meet the thresholds that experts have indicated.</p><p><em>Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.</em></p>

The New York Timesreported that hundreds of businesses trading on the financial markets received billions in loans from the government as part of COVID-19 relief, despite the program being targeted to small business.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked about the problem in an interview with Fox News on Monday.

<p>From the April 27 edition of Fox News' <em>America's Newsroom</em>:</p><blockquote>ED HENRY, co-host: Kayleigh, I want to follow up on Sandra [Smith] because she asked a good question about the Paycheck Protection Program. It's something a lot of our viewers have been paying attention.<br/>We've been getting letters for a couple of weeks now from some folks, and I understand there's going to be good news and bad news. People are going to deal with paperwork issues. This happens all the time. But you just made the assertion a moment ago that it's helping a lot of small businesses.<br/>Front page story in the New York Times, I'm sure you saw about how a lot of large companies are getting this money whereas mom and pop shops are not. One of the issues that could clear all this up is if you were transparent and released the list, disclosed which companies are actually getting money and which are not.<br/>Will you finally do that — disclose which companies are getting this PPP money?<br/>KAYLEIGH MCENANY: Look, let me be very clear here, and I'm glad that you asked this. Point-three percent of loans that have gone out, 0.3%, have been to the order of five million or more, meaning bigger companies.<br/>The vast majority, as I noted, 1 million of the 1.6 million loans that went out, were companies with 10 or fewer employees. That is what this program is designed to do, that is who it is helping, and the New York Times, leave it to them to be wrong, and not just to be wrong, but to be really wrong, because that headline is completely dishonest, doesn't serve the American people across the country trying to get these loans.<br/>And I would also note, a thank you to Whip Steve Scalise who put out a website as we waited for a week for Democrats to get their House in order and come to the table, he opened a website where business owners could come and express their frustration with the delays. I read about a small business owner in Mobile, Alabama, who almost had to do layoffs all of last week as she waited for funding.<br/>So, we got to come together as a country, both parties come together, this is about one thing: the American people, not partisan politics.<br/>HENRY: Wel,l it doesn't sound like you're going to release that list of who's getting the money based on that answer. You're not happy with the New York Times --<br/>MCENANY: We're concerned with getting money to people right now. I mean, look, we're not concerned with cobbling a list together to please the media.</blockquote><p class="media-headline"><strong><br/></strong></p><iframe class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="38bf7b4939f9c6f708a158345290f085" frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/412345291" width="100%"></iframe><p><br/></p><p><em>Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.</em></p>

"Governor Cuomo should spend more time 'doing' and less time 'complaining'. Get out there and get the job done. Stop talking!" Trump tweeted.

<p>"We have given New York far more money, help and equipment than any other state, by far, &amp; these great men &amp; women who did the job never hear you say thanks. Your numbers are not good. Less talk and more action!" he <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1251181566740619265" target="_blank">added</a>.</p><p>Over <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html?action=click&amp;module=Spotlight&amp;pgtype=Homepage#states" target="_blank">12,100</a> people in New York have died as a result of the coronavirus — a higher death toll than in any other state. Cuomo's approval rating has <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/03/30/new-yorkers-approve-of-cuomos-response-to-coronavirus-pandemic-poll/" target="_blank">risen to 87 percent</a> over the course of his administration's response to the outbreak.</p><p>Cuomo was asked about Trump's attack during his briefing.</p><p>"Good, let's respond to the president," Cuomo said — and then responded for more than 16 minutes.</p><p class="media-headline">
<strong>Cuomo on Trump 04-17-2020 from Shareblue Media on Vimeo</strong></p>
<p><br/></p>
<iframe class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f9e9f5e5fa7cea0a9047e33ad2b4c8d8" frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/408933222" width="100%"></iframe><p>"First of all, if he's sitting home, watching TV, maybe he should get up and go to work."</p><p>—</p><p>"When he says, 'Well, we built it, we didn't need it,' it sounds like the suggestion is, well, it was a request by the state that wasn't valid. If he didn't really believe 2,500 beds was necessary, I don't believe the federal government would have helped build 2,500 beds. And the number came from a projection from him. Him. He should read the reports he issues.</p><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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</script><p>"The White House coronavirus task force had enormous — projected in the millions of people. The CDC, which is the president, projected in the millions of people. So, the projections were high. They were the president's projections. So for him to say to anyone, 'Well, you relied on projections, and the projections were wrong' — they're your projections, Mr. President.</p><p>"So were we foolish for relying on your projections, Mr. President? CDC, coronavirus White House task force — that's you. We relied on your projections. OK. Shouldn't have relied on your projections."</p><p>—</p><p>"I have said a number of times — I don't know, what am I supposed to do, send a bouquet of flowers? They were very helpful on Javits. Very helpful on sending the U.S. Navy ship Comfort. They were very helpful in intervening with China and getting PPE equipment out of China. They were very helpful in helping us find ventilators. I said thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.</p><p>"Now, going forward, we're still in the midst of it. The president doesn't want to help on testing. He said 11 times — I said the one issue we need help with is testing. He said 11 times, 'I don't want to get involved in testing, it's too complicated, it's too hard.' I know it's too complicated, and it's too hard. That's why we need you to help."</p><p>—</p><p>"He wants to say, 'Well, I did enough.' Yeah, none of us have done enough. We haven't. Because it's not over. So yes, thank you for the Javits, thank you for the U.S. Navy ship Comfort. But it's not over. We have a lot more to do. And no one can take the posture, 'Well, just say thank you for what I've done, and I'm now out. I'm not doing anything else. I've done my part.'</p><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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</script><p>"What if I said to the people of my state, 'OK, I'm done. By the way, I saved hundreds of thousands of lives, I flattened the curve, I created more hospital beds than anyone ever imagined, I coordinated the entire state — I'm done. I'm done. I'm going home. I'm going to go see my mother, I'm going to spend time with my kids, and I'm going to go out fishing. In Connecticut. Because their marinas are open. That's it. I'm done.' What if I said that? That's what he's saying. 'I'm done. I don't want to help on testing, testing is too hard.'"</p><p>—</p><p>"The only thing he's doing — let's be honest — while it's up to the states to do reopen — I mean, it was always up to the states. What, are you going to grant me what the Constitution gave me before you were born? It's called the Tenth Amendment. I didn't need the president of the United States to tell me that I'm governor. I didn't need the president of the United States to tell me the powers of a state. People did that. Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison — they are the ones who gave me the power. And I don't need the president of the United States to read the Constitution for me. Maybe he should have read the Constitution before he said he had the power to open the states."</p><p>—</p><p>"OK, I'm going to reopen. I get it. And you don't want to help on testing. Which is a national problem and replicates the same chaos that you created with medical supplies because FEMA wasn't ready."</p><p>—</p><p>"So thank you again, Mr. President, for Javits, thank you for the U.S. Navy ship Comfort — which, by the way, is just doing your job as president. It's not really thank you like you wrote a check yourself. But thank you for that. We're not out of the woods. We have to go forward. We need help on testing. And we need funding. It's up to the governors, it's up to the state — well, then, provide the funding."</p><p>—</p><p>"He didn't announce anything. He said it's up to the states. That's what he said. And if you say it's up to the states, and you just hold up a big microphone that can listen to all of the governors, you'll hear some governors say, 'I can start to reopen right away.' Because some governors are in places where they don't have a serious problem, they never did. By the way, some states never even closed down. So if you're in a state that has a de minimis issue, yeah, you can open up faster, you can open up tomorrow. Or you can start opening up tomorrow. He's doing nothing. He said, 'It's up to the states.' It's up to the governors. Which is what it always was because it's always been the governor's power."</p><p>—</p><p>"And then he says, 'it's a 50-piece puzzle.' Oh, no, no. That's called a map of the United States. It's not a puzzle. And those lines are called states. And those states have constitutional power. Remember, the way this whole thing starts: The colonies create the federal government, not the other way around. So, introduction to constitutional theory and policy. The states have the power to open, the states are opening, on their own timelines. We're trying to coordinate with our neighboring states, western states are coordinating, middle states are coordinating. All he's doing is walking in front of the parade, but he has nothing to do with the timing of the parade."</p><p>—</p><p>"How many times do you want me to say thank you? But I'm saying thank you for doing your job. This was your role as president, OK?"</p><p>—</p><p>"You want me to say thank you? Thank you for doing your job in helping build Javits and sending the U.S. Navy ship Comfort. Thank you for participating in a modicum of federal responsibility in a national crisis. Which you know is a national crisis because he declared a federal emergency. So thank you for having the federal government participate in a federal emergency."</p><p>—</p><p>"By the way, what did McKinsey say that we needed? 140,000 beds. They got it from the CDC. As it says on the screen. They got it from the CDC. That's why we built 2,500 beds at Javits. Because we listened to you, Mr. President. And if we were foolish for listening to you, then shame on us. But, read your own report next time before you criticize it."</p><p><em>Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.</em></p><a href="https://americanindependent.com/eric-trump-accidentally-admits-his-dads-separation-from-the-family-business-is-a-total-sham/" target="_blank" title="Eric Trump accidentally admits his dad's separation from the family business is a total sham"></a>

Donald Trump on Thursday violated the
guidelines his own administration put forward about avoiding close contact with others and eschewing in-person social gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic — to hold a photo-op honoring truck drivers.

The event was intended to celebrate "America's truckers who are answering the call to action to transport supplies across the country," according to a description from the White House.

<p>
Trump violated the rules to
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/health/coronavirus-six-feet.html" target="_blank">stand six feet apart from others</a>, instead choosing to get close to truck drivers from companies such as UPS, FedEX, and DHL. He handed the drivers — as well as Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao and Chris Spear, CEO of American Trucking Associations — golden keys for their service, sidling up close to pose for photos.
</p><p>
"I almost shook your hand," Trump joked to Spear as they huddled together, a nod to the recommendation that people
<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-coronavirus-could-put-an-end-to-handshakes/" target="_blank">avoid handshaking</a> in order to stop the transmission of the novel coronavirus.
</p><p class="media-headline"><strong><br/></strong></p><iframe class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3f80afd5cf17756e73f120bdc8d6e84b" frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/408585494" width="100%"></iframe><p>
Trump <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2017/08/donald-trump-favorite-part-president-photo-op.html" target="_blank">relishes photo-ops,</a> and has held many throughout his tenure.
</p><p>
He's
<a href="https://americanindependent.com/trump-uses-purple-heart-ceremony-as-photo-op-tells-wounded-vet-congratulations/" target="_blank">congratulated</a> a veteran who lost a leg during a trip to the National Military Medical Center. He <a href="https://americanindependent.com/trump-stages-photo-op-so-he-can-pretend-intel-leaders-agree-with-him/" target="_blank">staged a photo-op</a> with several intelligence officials, claiming they had all agreed with him in their meeting after they had publicly testified to the contrary. He <a href="https://americanindependent.com/trump-used-black-college-presidents-for-black-history-month-photo-op-lied-about-school-funding-plan/" target="_blank">lied about a funding plan</a> during a photo-op with officials from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He even held a photo-op with a <a href="https://americanindependent.com/donald-trump-conan-military-dog-richard-spencer-edward-gallagher-navy-seal/" target="_blank">military service dog</a>.
</p><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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When the Philadelphia Eagles refused to travel to the White House for photo-ops after their Super Bowl victory in 2018, the White House
<a href="https://americanindependent.com/white-house-philadelphia-eagles-photo-op-trump/" target="_blank">attacked</a> the team and revoked the invitation.
</p><p>
Last year, he took a trip to the southern border to promote his wall,
<a href="https://americanindependent.com/trump-border-photo-op-tax-dollars/" target="_blank">admitting</a> that it was "not going to change a damn thing," but his communications team wanted it for what was essentially a taxpayer-funded photo-op.
</p><p>
Now, he's holding photo-ops during a global health pandemic, against recommendations from experts.
</p><p>
<em>Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.</em>
</p>

Recent polling has shown that a majority of Americans disapprove of Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. ABC News recently found that 55 percent disapprove of Trump's response, an increase of 12 percentage points since the middle of March.

At the same time, Trump has blamed China for his administration's slow response to the outbreak. He repeatedly referred to it as the "Chinese" virus and released a racist campaign ad with a similar message. He repeatedly refers to it incorrectly as the "Chinese virus" even as experts have warned against it. The World Health Organization says that naming viruses after a geographic location is wrong, as it causes unfair stigmatization of people who have nothing to do with the outbreak and its spread.

<p>From the April 14 edition of Steve Bannon's far-right podcast "War Room":</p><blockquote>STEVE BANNON, host: If you were talking to President Trump, what would be the two or three things you would recommend to start to hold this CCP [Communist Party of China] accountable for this?<br/>REP. JIM BANKS (R-IN): Well first of all, I've had literally hundreds of conversations with business leaders, with elected officials, with families right here in northeast Indiana — I'm in Fort Wayne at my district office right now, Steve — and my constituents are loud and clear: They want someone to be held accountable for what they're enduring at the moment.<br/>Whether it's the financial losses, unemployment, or small family-owned businesses that are losing everything that they have because of what the – of the CCP's negligence. They're either going to blame the CCP or they're going to blame President Trump as the left wants them to blame.<br/>So, my encouragement to President Trump and his advisers is to go down every path that we can to draw attention to the CCP's negligence, hold them accountable, and going through an international court of law is one avenue that we have carved out.<br/>Now, you and I probably distrust equally the U.N. as an international organization, but if they're good for anything, they should be good for this. This is an opportunity for them to redeem themselves as a reputable organization. If they don't do that then we should draw attention to the U.N.'s — another example of their failed efforts to do what they were intended to do and their initial purpose.<br/><br/><br/></blockquote><p class="media-headline">
<strong>Banks blames China 04-14-2020 from Shareblue Media on Vimeo</strong></p>
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<p><em>Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.</em></p>

Republicans are deflecting criticism from Trump's failure to respond to the coronavirus and focusing blame on China.

From the April 9 edition of Fox News' "Hannity":

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): So the first thing I want to do is get the United States Senate on the record where we — we don't blame Trump, we blame China — the Chinese government's responsible for 16,000 American deaths and 17 million Americans being unemployed. It's the Chinese government and the way they behave that led to this pandemic. This is the third one to come out of China.I want to make our response to this so overwhelming that China will change its behavior. I want to get the medical supply chain back into the United States, and I want to stop [sic] canceling some debt that we owe to China because they should be paying us, not us paying China. So, I think you're going to see a bipartisan push back against China to punish them so severely to deter them in the future.

A day after Donald Trump attacked the World Health Organization, the international organization's director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that politicizing the viral outbreak could lead to "many more body bags."

On Tuesday, as part of a campaign to find a scapegoat for his administration's failed response to the coronavirus outbreak, Trump alleged that WHO, the specialized health agency of the United Nations that has been leading the global response to the coronavirus epidemic, appeared "to be very China-centric."

Trump said he wants to "look into" the organization, saying it purportedly "called it wrong." Trump also floated the idea of freezing U.S. funding for the international health organization.

From an April 8 press briefing:

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, director-general, World Health Organization: At the end of the day, the people belong to all political parties. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people.Please don't politicize this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level. If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced on Wednesday he was suspending his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

From an April 8 campaign video:

BERNIE SANDERS: Today, I congratulate Joe Biden, a very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward.On a practical note, let me also say this: I will stay on the ballot in all remaining states and continue to gather delegates. While Vice President Biden will be the nominee, we must continue working to assemble as many delegates as possible at the Democratic Convention, where we will be able to exert significant influence over the party platform and other functions.Then together, standing united, we will go forward to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history. And we will fight to elect strong progressives at every level of government, from Congress, to the school board.

The administration announced on Thursday that Donald Trump would finally invoke the Defense Production Act to produce more ventilators amid the raging coronavirus outbreak, 15 days after he first said he would.

Biden addressed that decision later that afternoon, calling on Trump to do even more.

From an April 2 video press conference:

FORMER VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: We're in a situation where the president, as I was coming down to this makeshift studio I was told by a staff member that the president says he's going to fully implement the Defense Production Act now. And so, I said, "Great!" And a few minutes later I said, "What'd he say?" And I read the statement.It's all about ventilators. Which is really important and should have been done four weeks ago. But he should employ that Defense Production Act for all the things needed: gloves, masks, face shields, gowns, etc.That [should've been] done yesterday, last week, a month ago. Get it done now.And for example, tests. We're in a situation where we have tests that are not being distributed, number one, because there's no one person, no commander in the White House or in the administration like a military commander determining distribution of what is available and we have to be using the Defense Production Act to get companies who have the capacity to gather all the materials needed for the test, assemble them and move now.Use your full authority. This is a war. Act like a commander-in-chief. Use it all.

In response to Vice President Joe Biden's criticism of the Trump administration's slow response to the coronavirus, White House aide Kellyanne Conway told Fox News' Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning that Biden was "in his bunker in Wilmington." She then quickly asserted, "We're not talking about politics here at the White House."

Conway elaborated on her statement later in the day.

From April 1 at the White House:

REPORTER: Kellyanne, you just said that "Why doesn't Vice President Biden call the White House and offer his assistance?" But we heard from President Trump saying that if he thought he had something to learn from past administrations, he'd pick up the phone and have those conversations. So, does this administration want the support of previous leadership —KELLYANNE CONWAY: Let's talk about President, Vice President Biden, because I was specifically asked about him and his criticism of President Trump and the efforts that we're working on 24/7 around the clock here.And you're all covering the press conferences, the press briefings, you're talking to our health professionals, our Cabinet members, the president, the vice president, senior staff, as you need to. So I find it to be petty and a tinge of partisanship and completely unhelpful to the American population to have a former vice president who was here for eight years, in his bunker in Wilmington, just lobbing criticisms, reading from prepared notes — and not that well — when we are looking at this decidedly non-politically.I really have no time to talk about Biden and Bernie when we're talking about ventilators and vaccines, that's our focus now. So, I've seen some of his interviews — if I can get through them — painful to watch, I try to read them instead. But I haven't learned a single thing in those interviews that would help one American that we're not helping. So if he can say that – he's got a big platform, he's got a lot of fans out there who can't get enough of Joe Biden in the bunker in Delaware – so if he would actually say something in response to question or offer an insight we could take that up.REPORTER: But when you say he's in his bunker, are you suggesting that Vice President Biden should be disregarding federal guidelines and be out there —CONWAY: No, and you know I'm not. So let's not be silly. Let's not be silly. Let's not be silly about it.REPORTER: What are you implying —CONWAY: I'm not implying anything, in fact I'm not implying a single thing. I wonder what you're implying. But I'm not implying a single thing other than, he's out there, daily now, I don't know who gave him that advice, he's out there daily — maybe it's some of those [unintelligible] consultants — and he's saying things that are critical and often inaccurate and false instead of trying to be helpful.If he wishes to be helpful he could be helpful, and I have to tell you, I'm not implying it I'm stating it pretty clearly: The critics and naysayers, whoever they are, have never seemed so small and so shrill and so irrelevant as they do right now when we have dozens and dozens of companies helping. We have Democratic female leaders on these governor's calls, thanking the president and vice president and saying, "We've had great collaboration and coordination with your task force, with FEMA and with the government, and here's the specific ask that we need now, could you help us?"We've had person after person coming through, we've had bipartisan, bicameral legislation come to the president's desk several times now that he has signed immediately to give relief to individuals and industries that are in specific distress, which is most of America, if not all of America, and so I think that critics have never seemed so irrelevant and so small.And if you're a former vice president and you have some type of visibility, you have a great idea, let's hear it. Don't save it for the debates in September and October, if he makes it there, if he's the nominee, as I see he's the front-runner.But I really have no time for Bernie and Biden when we're talking about ventilators and vaccines here. So I'm not implying anything, he can stay in the bunker all he wants, he can cough into, sneeze into his hands all he wants, he can read from prepared notes all he wants, I'm yet to hear a single idea from Vice President Biden that would be helpful to the American people that was different from what we're doing. If he's got one he can call the switchboard, I'll put him right through.

On Monday, Donald Trump was asked by the hosts of Fox & Friends about possibly running in the presidential election against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is not a candidate.

“I wouldn’t mind running against Andrew. I’ve known Andrew for a long time. I wouldn’t mind that, but I’ll be honest, I think he’d be a better candidate than sleepy Joe,” he told the network, using his frequent epithet for former Vice President Joe Biden.

In his daily briefing on the coronavirus, Cuomo pushed back against the notion that he is focused on politics in his current efforts in governing New York.

From a March 30 press briefing:

ANDREW CUOMO: As far as the president’s comment about having a political contest with me, I am not engaging the president in politics. My only goal is to engage the president in partnership. This is no time for politics. And, you know, lead by example.

I’m not going to get into a political dispute with the president, I’m not going to rise to the bait of a political challenge. I’m not running for president, I was never running for president, I said from day one I wasn’t running for president, I’m not running for president now. I’m not playing politics. I just want partnership to deal with this.

And I said to the president quite clearly: Look, when you do good things for my state and you’re a good partner, I will be the first one to say you’re a good partner. And I have. I went to the ship Comfort today, I said, “Thank you, Mr. President.”

We opened up this Javits Center, I said thank you to the Army, they did a great job here, the Army Corps of Engineers. When you help my state, I’ll say thank you.

If I believe that New York is not being served – the federal legislation that they passed – I will say that too.

You know, sometimes it’s simple. Just tell the truth, right? And that’s where we are. Tell the truth. If you’re doing the right thing by New York, I’ll say it. If he’s doing the wrong thing by New York or the rest of the country, I’ll say it.

But I’m not going to engage in politics. Not because I’m unwilling to tangle but because I think it’s inappropriate and I think it’s counterproductive and I think it’s anti-American.

Forget the politics. Forget the politics, we have a national crisis. We are at war. There is no politics. There is no red and blue. It’s red, white, and blue. So let’s get over it and, again, lead by example.

On Thursday, the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus went over 1,000 and the number of people who have tested positive reached 81,578.

On that same day, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that 3.28 million people filed for unemployment insurance — by far, the most who have ever done so in a single week in American history.

Despite those grim figures and the ongoing spread of the virus, coupled with the declining economic outlook, Donald Trump told reporters at his daily briefing that “a lot of good things are happening.”

Trump’s statement echoed the outlook from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who earlier in the day said the massive job losses were “not relevant.”

REPORTER: Do you think that the economic uncertainty has passed?

DONALD TRUMP: No, not yet. It hasn’t passed but it’s come a long way. I think they think we’re doing a really good job in terms of running this whole situation having to do with the virus.

I think they feel that — I think they feel the administration, myself and the administration, they’re doing a good job. We’re keeping — very important — the people informed. Because it was a great fear.

And, a lot of good things are happening. The mortality rate is at a — in my opinion — you have to speak to Deborah [Birx], Tony [Fauci], all of the others — but in my opinion it’s way, way down and that takes a lot of fear out. You know, it’s one thing to have it, it’s another thing to die.

You know, when I first got involved, I was being told numbers that were much, much higher than the number that seems to be. And remember that people that have it — many people have it — I just spoke to two people they had it, they never went to a doctor but they had it, absolutely had it but they never went to a doctor, they never went to anything — they didn’t report it.

You have thousands and hundreds of thousands of cases like that. So you have to add that to the caseload also. And the people that actually die, that percentage is a much lower percentage than I ever thought.

That’s one of the reasons I say, “Look, we’re going to beat this and we’re going to get back to work.”

However, back in 2009, when he was minority leader, McConnell repeatedly voiced opposition to the Recovery Act, which was proposed by President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders to help Americans suffering from the Great Recession.

During a press conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday, a reporter asked McConnell how “Republicans became okay with spending perhaps a good trillion dollars” to boost the economy.

McConnell noted several other “great crises” like the 2008 financial crisis and the 2012 fiscal cliff and said, “When they occur, we are able to rise above our normal partisanship and many times our normal positions.”

“Because these are not ordinary times,” McConnell added. “This is not an ordinary situation and so it requires extraordinary measures.”

When the Recovery Act was proposed in 2009, the American economy was in the midst of the Great Recession. In January that year, the U.S. economy lost nearly 800,000 jobs, preceded by multiple months of hundreds of thousands of additional job losses.

Despite the dire situation, McConnell was one of 38 Republican who voted against the Recovery Act, which provided relief programs for those impacted the most by the recession and injected additional funds into various federal health, infrastructure, energy, and educations programs.

The measure eventually passed the Senate by a vote of 60-38 with all Democrats and only three Republicans in support. The bill passed 246-183 in the House without a single Republican vote.

At the time, McConnell attacked the legislation, in multiple statements on the Senate floor.

“Americans can’t afford a trillion dollar mistake, however well-meaning the intent,” he said on Feb. 6, 2009. Four days later, McConnell called the proposed spending “an enormous amount of money” and said taxpayers “want to know how we’re going to pay for all this.”

“I think Americans would like to know how the administration plans to pay for all these things in the context of all the normal annual spending,” McConnell said on Feb. 11, describing it as a “partisan bill that spends a trillion dollars” in a statement released the same day.

After the bill passed, the economy began to recover. Instead of losing jobs, the country began adding jobs in February of 2010 in a streak that has continued to the present day.

From that point on, and until the end of Obama’s tenure there were 15.8 million jobs added to the economy.

The Trump is administration is deploying tactical units into multiple sanctuary cities as part of an effort to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in its campaign to detain migrants.

The units are being deployed “in order to enhance the integrity of the immigration system, protect public safety, and strengthen our national security,” Customs and Border Protection spokesman Lawrence Payne told the New York Times.

According to an email sent to CBP personnel, the deployment of the tactical teams will run from February through May.

The elite units, described by the Times as the “SWAT team of the border patrol,” will have gear such as stun grenades and have gone through training like that of the Special Forces. According to the outlet, “the officers typically conduct high-risk operations targeting individuals who are known to be violent, many of them with extensive criminal records.”

The planned deployment will affect cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit, and Newark, New Jersey.

ICE already operates in those cities and the deployment will add an increased degree of militarism to its immigration operations.

Donald Trump has often attacked and criticized sanctuary cities as part of his anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“The state of California passed an outrageous law declaring their whole state to be a sanctuary for criminal illegal immigrants — a very terrible sanctuary — with catastrophic results,” Trump said in his recent State of the Union address.

At a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Trump complained about “left-wing politicians” who “support sanctuary cities that release criminal aliens directly into the American community.”

Under Trump, immigrant communities have expressed fears about agencies like ICE coming into communities and separating families from each other. In some instances, ICE has even apprehended and detained American citizens, despite claims that they only target migrants.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump said that he would use a “deportation force” to remove 11 million immigrants from the United States.

“You’re going to have a deportation force, and you’re going to do it humanely,” he claimed at the time.

Multiple studies have shown that migrants are statistically far less likely to commit crimes than natural-born U.S. citizens.

The Department of Justice decided on Friday against pursuing a criminal prosecution of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Donald Trump has repeatedly publicly attacked McCabe, accusing him of being part of a “coup” and engaging in “treason” because the FBI investigated the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia in the 2016 election. McCabe hit back on CNN’s Right Now with Brianna Keilar:

ANDREW MCCABE: We said from the very first day – the very first day that we were notified by the Department of Justice that news of what should have been a confidential investigation was leaked to the public — that if they followed the law and they followed the facts that I would have nothing to worry about.

But as the president’s interest in pursuing his perceived political enemies continued over the last two years, we were getting more and more concerned about where this would end up, because quite frankly we are seeing things happen every day in this country that many of us never ever thought we’d see here.

The pursuit of political enemies and the use of the criminal justice system and criminal investigations to exact some sort of revenge on those political enemies is not something that should be happening in the United States of America.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

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